1. Technological Field
This technical disclosure pertains generally to programmable materials, and more particularly to actively controlled microarchitectured materials that can be programmed to achieve desired material properties and shape deformations.
2. Background Discussion
Various forms of robotic systems have arisen which utilize a plurality of unit-cell robots in a group, commonly referred to as swarm robotics or swarm intelligence. These autonomous robots are typically separate although they work in combination with one another to solve a problem, such as finding trapped victims in a disaster. Others have utilized these tiny unit-cell-like robots with actuators, sensors, and control circuitry, such as called ‘Programmable Matter’ by DARPA to reconfigure their shape by attaching and reattaching at different locations within a lattice as they crawl around each other to get to their final location. In certain proposals these robots don't completely attach and reattach, but use compliant joints that fold like origami structures to change their locations within the lattice.
However, other than these joints which provide for repositioning of the cell within the lattice, the cells of these existing designs are rigid and don't change their own shape, but only change the lattice's shape by changing their locations within the lattice.
Accordingly, a need exists for new robotic operating models which provide additional functionality in a materials arena.